


That's Not A Hug: Part 1

by ObservationalObsessive



Series: Thunder and Lightning [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Awkward Peter Parker, Contemplation, Father Figure, Friendship, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter is awkward, Precious Peter Parker, Sleep Deprivation, Tags Are Hard, Tony "I can't be a dad" Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, inner thoughts, mentor, peter parker needs sleep, sleep deprived superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 13:19:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11105391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObservationalObsessive/pseuds/ObservationalObsessive
Summary: In fact, now that he was thinking about it, he welcomed the idea of a hug from Tony. He'd hardly even hesitated, even though he'd thought it was a little weird. And now, sitting alone in the dark that night, he thought to himself that he really wouldn't mind at all if Tony ever decided he really did want to hug him... He wouldn't mind that at all.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is beginning of a pretty big project. It started out as little drabble type things that were very inspired by the first Spider-Man: Homecoming trailers. It grew to the point that it's no longer canon compliant at all and it much different than what this is. If you don't like that, you don't have to continue reading past this story. It works on it's own too!

When Tony Stark leaned towards Peter Parker with open arms, the teenaged superhero only naturally assumed he was going in for a hug. And okay, so looking back it really made no sense. There was no reason for a hug in that conversation and it really had come out of nowhere. That thought had flickered briefly across Peter's mind but had ultimately been ignored. Clearly it was a hug so why question it?

"That's not a hug," Tony had said then, just as Peter had put his arm around the man, still a little confused. "I'm just grabbing the door for you."

Peter's eyes widened and he turned to look at the car door, which Tony was now pushing open. "O-oh."

"Alright, kid," Tony said, pulling away and leaning back into his own seat. "Good luck out there."

Peter sat there a moment longer, just looking at the man, before he got out of the car and shut the door behind him. He stood in the street and watched as the slick car drove away and left him behind. As soon as it was out of his sight, his brain seemed to catch up to what had just occurred. 

He blinked a few times and frowned, not quite sure what to feel. Honestly, the entire conversation had been all kinds of confusing. There were exciting parts to it, like getting to keep the suit, which had been something he hadn't wanted to simply assume. And then he's just felt a little let down at being told he wasn't an Avenger. Again, he hadn't wanted to assume anything but... it would be a lie if he said he hadn't hoped. And really, Tony hadn't given him any helpful advice on how to move front on that front so... what was a he supposed to do exactly? He was only left feeling even more baffled.

And then, in typical Peter Parker fashion, he had completely humiliated himself. That was common enough but in front of Tony? He looked up to him and had for years. He wanted so badly to impress him but it felt like he always just ended up looking like a total idiot in front of him instead. And Tony clearly didn't think he was very capable...

Peter still thought it was at least somewhat to reasonable to have assumed that Tony was going for a hug. But it was Tony Stark. Somehow that made everything Peter did look stupider - at least in his eyes.

As he walked back home in the dark, shivering at the night air as it tickled his bare arms, he replayed the moment again and again in his head. It was the kind of thing you just couldn't forget and felt a little more cringeworthy every time you pictured it again. The kind of memory that made your face burn and refused to leave once it had made itself a home in your head. That kind of embarrassing memory that made you feel way too self aware and then usually reminded you of your other not-so-great moments.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, just trying to move his train of thought forward. If his thoughts had been on an actual train there would have been something on the tracks that wasn't letting the train move in that moment. 

-

The next time he thought about the incident was a couple days later while he was trying to go to sleep. He was about to drift off when the memory sprang to the front of his mind and chased away the sleep that had been about to take over. As those kinds of memories do.

He groaned and flopped over in his bed.

He wasn't really sure why he was so embarrassed by it... It had been an honest mistake and maybe Tony didn't even remember. Just because Tony was the kind of person to point of someone else's harmless mistake rather than just go along with it, didn't mean he was the kind of person to be offended by someone's honest mistake. It really wasn't that big of a deal... It wasn't like those kids Peter had seen near his locker the other day...

They'd just been talking and Peter guessed that the boy (he was pretty certain his name was Lucas) had misread the situation. Apparently, Lucas had thought that the girl he was talking to wanted him to kiss her but it turned out that she didn't like him that way and wasn't very happy about it. That awkward situation had revealed poor Lucas's secret crush. Misinterpreting an incoming hug wasn't like that. 

Except, now that Peter thought of it, it kind of was. Maybe it didn't reveal some secret crush, which would've been weird, but it did reveal something. Something Peter didn't want to think about...

He was lonely. Not just a general kind of lonely though.

Peter Parker desperately wanted someone to fill the void left by his uncle who had filled in the one left by his father. And maybe Tony just seemed like the best option to Peter's subconscious. So of course he wasn't going to turn away from a hug from the person he realized he'd started to see as a father figure. He wanted that. It had been so long since he'd had someone to look up to and go to with his concerns and problems. Someone he knew he could always trust and someone whose approval really meant something. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, he welcomed the idea of a hug from Tony. He'd hardly even hesitated, even though he'd thought it was a little weird. And now, sitting alone in the dark that night, he thought to himself that he really wouldn't mind at all if Tony ever decided he really did want to hug him... 

He wouldn't mind that at all.


	2. Chapter Two

Tony Stark yawned loudly, stretching his arms back and walking out of his elevator to the entertainment floor of the tower. He went straight for the mini bar, in search of something to ease to pain in his temples, though he knew it would only be worse later if he wasn't careful. He'd spent the entire night before in his lab, working on some upgrades. He'd meant to get some sleep actually. He knew how poor his sleep schedule had been and had been making an effort to fix it. It just hadn't quite worked out for him that time.

He'd planned to get to bed by midnight, which still struck him as absurdly early but he was trying to force himself to get more sleep. It was just that once he'd noticed the time he decided to just stay up long enough to finish the thing he was working on, which led to something else. Then it had been past 2am and he wasn't quite finished with the design so he'd decided a little extra time wouldn't hurt anything. Before he knew it, the sun was rising.

Luckily for the billionaire, he didn't have a single thing on the schedule so unless there was some kind of end-of-the-world crisis, he could stay in and maybe get some shut eye in front of the tv or something. He'd thought about it during his ride in the elevator and couldn't think of any logical reason he'd have to leave the tower. Just to be certain, he'd even asked FRIDAY. She didn't have anything either.

However, neither of them had accounted for his new and very young friend. 

Spider-Man had gotten an early start since it was Summer and he had no school. Everything had gone pretty well until he'd totally misjudged the distance between buildings and had missed with his webshooters. Of course, he'd been able to recover from it pretty well and hadn't been harmed at all. Nor had he harmed anyone else. But it brought to his attention his own sleep problem and he's decided it might be better to take a rest. After all, he'd been out for nearly seven hours the night before and had then gone back out after only three and a half hours of sleep, which was more than Tony had gotten but certainly not acceptable for a teenaged boy.

And so, when he'd caught sight of Avengers Tower his natural thought was that it would be an absolutely perfect place to take a breather. But he'd misjudged the distance there as well and what had been planned as a smooth landing on Iron Man's landing pad had instead resulted in a painful skid across it and a slam into the glass. 

That had snapped Tony out of his tired daze. The man had been horrified at the sight and his first thought was that something must've happened to the kid. So when he pulled him in and found out he was just tired he almost wanted to hit him. And he might've too but he was feeling maybe a little too tired for that himself.

"Sorry, Mr. Stark -"

"Tony," he cut in.

"Tony," Peter amended, pulling his mask off and running his hand through his messy hair. "I'm sorry. I just... didn't get much sleep and I was about ready to drop out of the sky. I really needed a break."

"No, no," Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "It's fine. Make yourself at home. I was just gonna get myself a drink. Want anything?"

Peter stared blankly at the man who was not standing behind his mini bar and waiting expectantly for an answer from the teen. "Uh..."

"I've got everything. Do you want a soda? What, you think I'm trying to give you alcohol? 'Course not. Wish I'd never started. Bad habit. Ok, sodas? C'mon kid," he waved his hand, moving his wrist in a rapid circular motion. 

"Uh - root beer?" Suddenly a can was flying at him and regardless of his lack of energy he caught it effortlessly. He popped the top cautiously, keeping his over the top just in case it's little trip through the air had shaken it. When it didn't overflow he breathed a quiet sigh of relief and plopped back on the couch, taking a long drink of the sugar-loaded carbonated beverage. "Thanks, Tony. This is great."

"Hey, anything for you," Tony smirked, joining Peter on the couch with a more adult drink in his own hand. "So what's new with you?"

"Uh, well I just fought this guy who called himself -"

Tony shook his head, frowning distastefully. "No, no. None of that. Not right now. What's up in your personal life? How's your hot aunt?"

"She's fine," Peter said, rolling his eyes but still smiling. "And life's ok. Nothing too different, I guess. I'm having a little trouble with grades and attendance but, I mean, what's bad to me is actually still pretty good for a lot of kids my age. Even at Midtown. But I hate it. I want to be as good as I used to be, you know? I know I'm a nerd but... I always really valued my good grades and even if other kids said I was a teachers' pet, I liked that my teachers knew they could count on me, I guess. And now... I feel like I'm letting them down."

"Yeah, but didn't you say before that they were pretty understanding for the most part? Even without having to explain your... side life?"

Peter nodded, pursing his lips in thought. He took another sip of his root beer. "Yeah, it's just... I mean, I kinda hate that. Because I know they're only being to kind about it because of... my uncle. They think I'm still just grieving a lot. Which I am... in a way. But it's not keeping me from school or anything and I just hate that they think that. I feel like I'm disrespecting his memory or something... and before long, they're going to decide I've had enough time. And they won't be so understanding and nice about it then, will they?"

Tony shrugged. There was silence for a moment before Tony decided to change the subject. Emotional stuff made him uncomfortable. "Ok, so how are things with your friend? Ted?"

"Ned," Peter corrected, cracking a grin. "Things are ok with him. I told you already that he found out. Things have been really good since then. He gets it when I miss a game night or something, you know? And he actually totally helps me out! He covers for me, like, all the time. And he's literally the single most trustworthy person I know. I know he hasn't told anyone. So it's been good, yeah. What about you? How have you been?"

The billionaire shrugged again. "Nothing new. I've mostly been in the lab, really. Working on upgrades and stuff. I've got some ideas for your webshooters. We'll have to look at it later."

Peter grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, absolutely!"

After that, there was another lull in the conversation. The two of them focused more on finishing their drinks than talking to each other. Even then, it didn't feel uncomfortable. It was a pleasant quiet. 

Peter liked this. His relationship with Tony Stark was a little confusing at times but he knew that they were friends and that meant more to him than he could say. It was different kind of friendship than the one he had with Ned. And though he'd maybe been hoping that Tony would wind up being like Uncle Ben somehow and it hadn't quite gone that way, he was definitely someone Peter looked up to and knew he could go to with a problem. It was different. He didn't think anyone would ever take the place of Uncle Ben. Not really. But Tony had his own place and his own role in Peter's life and young hero was grateful for it.

At some point after finishing their drinks, the two gave into their exhaustion and fell asleep on the couch. Tony woke up first to find that Peter's head had lulled to the side and was resting on the older man's shoulder.

Tony smirked and carefully moved his arm out from under the kid, stretching the numb muscles. He rested the arm around Peter's shoulders and closed his eyes again, falling asleep not a moment later. 

Peter woke up a while later and tensed up when he became aware of the feeling of a heavy arm draped across him. It took him a moment to realize it was just Tony, whose snoring had been the thing to wake Peter up. He couldn't hold back a snort of laughter at the man's face, which woke him up as well.

"Sorry!" Peter exclaimed, still laughing. Tony rolled his eyes and glared good-naturedly at the teen, moving his arm slightly to pull Peter's head closer and ruffle his hair. Peter laughed some more and wrestled away from his grip, trying to fix his hair even though he was just going to put the mask back on.

"I better get going," he said, standing up from the couch and lifted said mask from the coffee table. "Aunt May's gonna be wondering where I am soon."

Tony nodded and stretched his arms back, feeling grateful for the small nap he'd gotten. He couldn't help thinking maybe it would be a good idea to actually get to sleep some time that night... "All right, kid. I'll see ya. Come on back whenever you feel like it, ok?"

Peter nodded back, giving Tony a lopsided grin while he pulled the mask over his face. He gave Tony a mock salute and left the tower.

One his way home, he thought again about how glad he was to know Tony. And maybe that hadn't been quite a hug but.. it was something. And something was certainly better than nothing.


	3. Chapter Three

"Not a hug." 

It was said this time with a slight sigh, perhaps a sign of annoyance or exasperation. Apparently, Tony Stark had been reaching for his phone after bidding Peter Parker farewell at the end of a long of work. They'd spent the evening working on upgrades for not only Spider-Man but Iron Man as well. The kid actually had some great ideas and had become the first person Tony thought to run new concepts by.

Their science session had ended the moment Tony had noticed Peter starting to nod off and blink his eyes rapidly to shake it off. Sure, so maybe it was slightly hypocritical, but Tony Stark had no intention of letting Peter go without sleep or proper nutrients. It just wasn't going to happen. He was determined to make certain that Peter knew he shouldn't let anything get in the way of his health; not science, not superhero-ing, and not anything else he liked to do either. 

Luckily, Peter hadn't argued the point much at all. He'd grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder after pulling on his jacket. He gave Tony a little wave and a quick goodbye, which the man had returned. But then he'd reached by to grab his phone from the countertop and they'd wound up in the same awkward situation they seemed to be in a lot.

"Sorry," Peter coughed awkwardly, stepping back just hesitantly enough to catch Tony's attention. "I just... sorry." He readjusted the straps of his backpack on his shoulders and looked down.

There was something about the look on Peter's face that was... familiar. Relatable.

Tony knew what it was like to want someone to... look up to. A father figure, as it were. His relationship with his dad had been anything but perfect. He'd spent years wishing it could've been. In his opinion, he'd been way too old when he finally decided not to care. Although, he hadn't really stopped caring, had he? He'd accepted it but he still wished he could've been close to his dad. And then there had been Obadiah. He'd looked at him as an uncle, almost the father he didn't have. Especially after his father had died. But that hadn't ended so well, had it?

But Tony knew. He understood. Peter's dad had left and then died. Then his uncle, the man who'd raised him, had been shot. Peter didn't talk about it much but he'd explained it to Tony before. He really did understand. And now, here he was. Tony would have to be stupid, which he was not, to think that it didn't make sense for Peter to see him as some kind of role model or mentor or something. It wasn't that hard to believe.

Except that it was.

He wasn't the kind uncle. He wasn't any of the other Avengers, past or present. He was Tony Stark. He was a messed up inventor who didn't know how to be anyone's father figure. His own experiences with them had been lousy. He didn't have much personal knowledge to go on. He'd never been anyone's father figure before and he didn't think he really could now. Not really. Even as much as Peter desperately wanted - maybe even needed - to have one, it couldn't be Tony. It just couldn't.

But as scared as he was, he really did care about that kid... But that was why he couldn't be his role model, right? He cared too much about Peter to let him look up to a guy like Tony Stark. Cared too much to let him see a recovering drunk as a good example. he wasn't about to let Peter make any of the same mistakes he had and so even though he truly cared and would never ignore or hurt Peter or, worse yet, betray him, he knew he would be a horrible father figure. It just wasn't a role Tony was meant to fill.

At yet, as all these thoughts ran through his mind, he sighed again, quietly, and wrapped his arms around Peter's small frame. His heart tugged at the feeling of Peter's arms wrapping around his torso even tighter, his face pressed against Tony's chest, where his arc reactor used to reside. He reached a little higher to pat Peter's hair a little awkwardly before letting go and stepping back.

"All right, kid. Get some sleep. And don't let me find out you went webslinging instead, got it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so that's it! Now again... the next work kind of leaves the MCU behind. Not a whole lot but it definitely sets up for the next story a lot and that one is not canon compliant. So you have been warned! Also, Part 2 is also only 3 chapters but they're longer than these. And after that, the stories will be much longer.


End file.
